


They Grow Up So Fast

by orphan_account



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dorks in Love, F/M, Family Fluff, M/M, Rumbelle Christmas in July 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 02:10:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11590797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: It’s hard enough to find out your child is old enough to date. It doesn’t help if same child was born less than a year ago.Post-S6 AU where Gideon wasn't rebabified. Very light on the angst, but there obviously is some. Mostly involves Rumple and Belle trying to be helpful while not turning into helicopter parents. With varying success.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AnnieVH](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnieVH/gifts).



> RCiJ gift for the lovely AnnieVH. I’m still so happy that I got you as my giftee – I really enjoyed talking to you and getting to know you a bit over the last weeks. I hope you enjoy your gift.

The library door opened in the same moment that Belle finished locking the elevator door. “I was just closing!” She tried to sound apologetic.

“I know.”

Belle’s mild annoyance at the prospect of having her going home time interrupted by a possible end-of-the-world scenario disappeared when she recognised the voice of her son. She turned around to see the lanky young man, dressed in a dark shirt in trousers, standing awkwardly at the far end of the shelves closest to the elevator. “Gideon.” She stepped closer to give him a hug. “I didn’t know you were coming over.”

He returned the hug. “I wanted to talk to* you,” he said. “Alone.”

Which meant ‘without Rumple’, she knew. In the last few months, the three of them had settled into some semblance of a normal day-to-day life, but she Gideon was still skittish about some things.

“Of course,” she said with a reassuring smile. “I was just done here, anyway.”

They both sat down at one of the reading tables. Gideon kept looking at the floor, his hands, the surrounding shelves – anywhere but at Belle.

“I wanted to ask you something,” Gideon said to his fingernails. “About when you met father.”

Belle waited for him to add something more, but he remained silent, colour slowly rising on his cheeks. “I thought you already knew all about that,” she said carefully.

“Not how it happened,” Gideon hurried to add. The blush had now reached a full scarlet colour. “I mean when did you… How did you know?”

Oh. That. Belle blinked, trying to gather her thoughts. “I don’t think it was just the one moment,” she said. “More like a lot of small ones, coming together all at once. Until I couldn’t understand how I hadn’t seen it sooner.” And then it had still taken Regina’s intervention – or manipulation, rather – for her to act on her feelings. Somehow Belle didn’t think that particular detail needed to be mentioned right now.

“But what did it feel like?” Gideon insisted. “How could you tell?”

“It just felt… right,” Belle said, a little lamely. “Finding your True Love and knowing them for what they are… it’s not something you can mistake for anything else.” She had read whole books that tried to capture the feeling she was trying to describe to her son, but now she couldn’t remember a single line. Most of them hadn’t come close in any case.

“So you’re saying you just knew.” Gideon finally met her eyes, but he didn’t sound pleased. If anything, he sounded bitter.

“I can’t explain it any other way.” Belle waited for a moment before asking cautiously, “Gideon, is there a reason you want to know?”

Gideon dropped his gaze again. “Just wondering,” he mumbled.

“Are you thinking of going out with someone?” Belle asked. “Because if you think that you are right for each other–”

That, apparently, had been the wrong thing to say. Gideon all but jumped out of his chair, cheeks still flushed with embarrassment and the first hints of frustrated anger. “I should go,” he bit out. “Thank you for telling me. I won’t keep you any longer.”

“Gideon–”

“Good evening, mother.”

He all but stormed out of the library, leaving a very puzzled and slightly alarmed Belle behind him.

*******

Rumple carefully poured the contents of the beaker into the small cauldron perched on top of his workbench. The liquids mixed with a loud hiss and a puff of bright purple smoke rose from their surface. Rumple nodded in satisfaction and put the beaker down with the iron tongs. “Maybe he was just curious?” he offered, concentrating on the potion rather than looking at Belle.

“Then why storm out the second I asked about him?” she countered. Belle had told him about her conversation with Gideon the evening before, but it still seemed to weigh on her mind.

If Rumple was honest with himself, he was rather curious as well. That was at least part of the reason he had started the complex spell that the potion on his work bench was part of. The intense concentration required for delicate spellwork tended to calm his mind. “Or he _is_ seeing someone,” Rumple mused. “I just don’t see why he wouldn’t tell us. Did he really run?”

“Bolted. Like I’d threatened to bite his head off.”

Belle paused and Rumple wondered if her thoughts had gone in a similar direction as his own. For all they knew, that was exactly what Gideon had been worried about. For a moment, he wished he could bring the Black Fairy back from the dead, just to kill her all over again.

The potion started boiling over and Rumple quickly reigned in his more violent thoughts and stirred the mixture carefully. The spell was at a sensitive phase – unchecked emotions could harm it. “It’s still a bit early for him,” Rumple said, trying to sound calmer than he felt. “He’s still adjusting. And if it’s that serious–”

“We don’t really know if there even is anything – any _one_ – to be serious about,” Belle reminded him. “And if we’re overreacting, we’ll just prove to him that he _can’t_ come to us with things like that.” Rumple looked up from his work and at his wife. She seemed weary, but her eyes still smiled at him. “I just don’t want to scare him away,” she said.

“I know.” Rumple turned a sigh into a deep breath. “And you’re right. There’s really nothing to worry about.” Yet.

Belle leaned over to kiss his cheek and he all but jumped away, putting a good distance between the two. “Please don’t!” he warned.

Belle froze. “Rumple?” She sounded more confused than wounded and Rumple hurried to explain.

“It’s the spell,” he said. “It’s very sensitive to emotions. Particularly…” He gave an embarrassed cough. “Love. Particularly any direct or symbolic displays of affection.”

Confusion gave way to mirth and Belle grinned. “So kissing you is a symbolic display of affection?”

“No, a direct one. This,” he held up his hand with the wedding band for her to see, “is a symbolic display. But I’ve insulated the work area against the rings several hours ago.”

“Sensible.” Belle regarded the potion. “What is it supposed to do when it is finished?”

“At core, it’s a modified version of the seeking spell I gave to David all those years ago.”

“The one that let him find Snow?”

“Exactly.” Rumple stepped back towards the bench. “I wanted to see if I could duplicate the spell without having to anchor it to an object already connected to a person’s True Love.”

Belle’s eyebrows rose. “And that has of course nothing to do with my conversation with Gideon?”

“Not necessarily.”

Belle looked at him pointedly.

“I didn’t plan to do anything with it, but I’ll admit, Gideon was on my mind when I decided to work on the spell.

"Well, I’ll leave you to it, then.” Belle smiled instead of trying for another kiss and left the room. Rumple heard her rummaging around the front of the shop. “Did Gideon say if he’d be home for dinner?”

“He mentioned that he’d be out the whole day,” Rumple said. “Why?” Usually, he was the one who prepared meals, except on days when they decided to cook together or eat outside.

“I think he left something behind.” Belle stepped back into the room, holding up a small velvet pouch. “This looks like one of his and I think there’s something in–”

The potion blew up.

Instinctively, Rumple stepped between the flying liquid and Belle, confident that his usual precautions against accidents in at spellwork would be enough to deal with any dangers. To his dismay, the magical defences never even engaged. Instead, he was splattered with an even spray of multi-hued liquid. Unpleasantly warm, but not dangerous. He made a point of wiping his face before turning to Belle.

“May I?” He held out his hand and Belle placed the pouch in it. “Jewellery,” he said. “Could be a locket.”

Belle was still looking around at the chaos her entrance had wrought. “I didn’t realise 'sensitive’ also meant 'explosive’,” she finally managed.

“Neither did I,” Rumple admitted, blinking some more of the potion out of his eyes. “Seems a bit dramatic.”

They both looked around the room and at the colourful streaks staining ceiling and floor. Belle was the first to burst out laughing.

When they had calmed down, Rumple cleaned the room – and his suit – with a wave of his hand.

“So what do we do now?” Belle gestured towards the pouch he still held in his hand.

“It seems obvious that it’s either a present for Gideon or something he was planning on giving away.” A 'symbolic display of affection’, as he had called it earlier.

“Then it would be a shame,” Belle said slowly, “if he turned up to his rendezvous without that, wouldn’t it?”

Rumple raised his eyebrows. “He still doesn’t have a phone so unless he comes back for it…”

“We could look for him,” Belle said. “Just to give it back. We wouldn’t even need to see who he’s meeting.”

But they might. Entirely by accident, of course. The small gesture could even help to convince Gideon that he could talk to his parents about things like this. And Rumple _had_ been cooped up in the back room for a good part of the day. “Consider me convinced, then,” he said and slipped the pouch into his suit pocket. “Let’s find our son.”


	2. Chapter 2

Finding a single person in a town, even one as relatively small as Storybrooke was a time-consuming task, but a rather pleasant one, with a warm breeze of early summer on the air that didn’t carry the full heat or humidity of the hotter months.

It would have been even more pleasant if Belle hadn’t been so worried. Not about the pouch, he knew, but for Gideon’s sake. The boy – man, really, though some days that was harder to remember than others – wasn’t naive, as much as he was innocent of this world. It wasn’t hard to imagine him falling for the wrong type of person and getting his heart broken. Though Rumple knew he was hardly in a position to cast stones when it came to being the wrong kind of person to fall in love with.

If nothing else, Rumple decided, the search was an excellent excuse to walk around town with his wife on his arm. He even found a small smile stealing onto his lips as they wandered around through Storybrooke’s winding streets, chatting away amiably. It felt like far too long since they’d just been able to relax and enjoy each other’s company.

After nearly three quarters of an hour of this, Belle squinted at him with well-meaning suspicion in her eyes. “Did you just agree to this so we could go for a walk together?” she asked.

“Belle, you wound me,” Rumple replied, putting one hand to his chest with an exaggerated frown. “Would I ever do something like that.”

“Yes,” Belle replied, without a moment’s hesitation. Rumple grinned and she swatted playfully him on the upper arm. “You’re terrible.”

“So I have been told,” Rumple replied. “In my defence: I’ve been keeping an eye out for our son as well as enjoying your company.”

“For all the good that’s done,” Belle noted, looking around the surprisingly busy street. “Do you really think he’ll be around here?”

“It’s at least worth a try.”

“Belle?”

They stopped and turned to see Emma Swan hurrying up the sidewalk, a bag of groceries in each hand. She slowed as she reached them. “I thought you were at the library.”

“And a good day to you as well, Ms Swan.” Rumple barely tried to hide his exasperation.

Emma glanced at him before turning back to Belle. It was hard to fault her, Rumple thought. Belle _was_ infinitely more approachable than he.

“I only did the morning hours,” Belle admitted, visibly puzzled. “But if you need anything–”

“No, it’s not that,” Emma said quickly. “Henry just told me he’d be meeting with Gideon at the library. God knows where they are now.” She didn’t sound pleased.

“Henry is meeting with Gideon?” Belle asked, now much more engaged.

“Once a week,” Emma said. “Has been for a while, but not often at my place.”

Rumple raised an eyebrow at that. Emma must have noticed the gesture, because she fixed her eyes on him and mirrored the expression. “What? Surprised that someone in the family _isn’t_ an antagonistic hermit.”

That almost got a laugh out of him, but Rumple reined it in. “What do they do?” he asked, trying to sound casual.

“Hog the Playstation, mostly.” Emma shrugged. “They get along. I think Henry likes having an uncle who’s actually older than him, for a change. And I’ve almost stopped jumping out of my skin every time I turn around and see him.” She frowned. “That sounded wrong. Hey, I like your kid, but we _were_ trying to stab each other with swords just a few months ago. These things take time.”

Rumple decided not to comment.

“I’m still glad he spends time with family,” Belle said.

“Yeah.” Emma seemed suddenly uncomfortable. “Look, I’ve got dinner at my place today and I still haven’t started. The Bug’s in for repairs and… well.” She lifted her bags as if in evidence. “I’ve got to go. But we should… I don’t know. Get together sometime? Talk?”

“I would like that,” Belle said quickly, likely sensing the reply Rumple had been about to give.

“Good.” Emma nodded at them. “See you.”

Rumple waited until she had left before speaking. “And we still don’t know where Gideon is. Except 'not at the library’.”

“He might be,” Belle said. “Gideon has a key.”

They didn’t have far to go and had already walked most of the way, when Rumple said, “You never mentioned giving him a key.”

“Sometimes it’s good to have a place that’s quiet.”

“A place with books?” he asked fondly.

Belle hummed in agreement. “He likes reading.”

“He _is_ your son.”

Belle arched an eyebrow at him. “I seem to remember that you managed to build quite a collection without my help.”

“Yes, but I was a magpie.” She narrowed her eyes at him and he corrected, “Am a magpie. The point is, I didn’t collect books to read. I don’t love them the way you do. Both of you.”

In response, Belle gave his hand a quick squeeze.

They reached the library just in time to see Henry leave it. He gave them a wave. “Hey, Grandpa,” he called. “Hey, Belle.”

“Is Gideon with you?” Rumple asked before the pleasantries got out of hand.

Henry shook his head. “You missed him. Said he was meeting someone else today and gave me this to lock up.” He held up the library key, before locking the door and handing it to Belle. “I was just going to drop this off at your place, but I guess this is faster.”

“Thank you,” Belle said. “Did he tell you where he was going?”

“No idea,” Henry said. “But you don’t have to worry, he looked pretty happy to be going.”

“We’re not worried,” Rumple said. “He just left something behind this morning and we wanted to give it to him before he needs it.” Henry seemed about to ask questions, so Rumple said quickly, “Thank you for telling us, but we should get going. I assume one of your mothers is expecting you for dinner soon.”

“Nah.” Henry grinned. “They’re both eating at Emma’s place. I’m going to the fair with Violet.”

Of course. The Harbour Fair. Rumple had to admit he’d forgotten that it was to open this weekend, but then, he really wasn’t one for things like that.

“Speaking of that, I gotta go,” Henry said. “Told Violet I’d pick her up.” He waved at them before taking off at a jog, obviously eager to be on time for his date.

“Looks like we’re back to square one,” Rumple commented.

“I didn’t know there was a fair in town.” Belle sounded thoughtful. “Maybe that’s where he’s going.”

Now that Rumple thought about it, it seemed obvious. “Probably,” he said aloud. “But it opens at sundown. That’s almost two hours away.”

Belle nodded, glancing up at the tower clock. “Then I suggest we get dinner.”

“I didn’t cook.”

“I know.” She sounded unconcerned as she slipped her arm through his again. “That’s why we’re eating at Granny’s.”

*******

Dinner at Granny’s wasn’t exactly sophisticated, but maybe that was one of the reasons Belle loved eating there. Rumple complained that the Turkey Dinner was at least as overpriced as the lasagne, but from the speed at which he made it disappear from his plate, she guessed that he didn’t mind too much.

Granny came over to collect their plates when they were done. “Haven’t seen you in here in a while,” she said to Belle. “We missed you.”

Her tone managed to make it perfectly clear that she was using the singular “you”. Behind her, Rumple had donned his overly patient the-things-I-do-for-love face. Belle had to fight to suppress a grin. “There’s been… a lot going on.” She handed Granny her empty glass. “But it’s good to be here again.”

“Saw your boy earlier. He seems to be settling in alright.” It was hard to tell whether Granny thought this was a good thing. “Not sure about that woman, but who am I to judge.” 

She left with the and Belle exchanged a look with Rumple. “Woman?” she mouthed.

He shrugged in reply.

When Granny came back with the bill, Belle asked her, “You said Gideon was here with someone else?”

“Yes.” She raised both eyebrows at the tip and actually looked at Rumple to do it. “Maleficent’s girl. Lily.”

That _was_ interesting, but Belle decided not to pry any further. They were only trying to find Gideon to give him back the pouch, she reminded herself. Not to dig around in his personal life, tempting as the thought was.

The sun was sinking when they left the diner and they made their way to the harbour. “She’s right,” Rumple said after a few steps. “That girl is terrible company.”

Belle tilted her head at him. “You think she’s the one he–”

“Seems reasonable. They’re of an age, they both grew up besieged by darkness, both without–” He cleared his throat. “Without their parents. It’s easy to see why they’d be… drawn to each other.”

When he put it like that, it seemed reasonable. Still, Belle couldn’t see the problem. “Then we should be glad he found someone so similar to him.”

Rumple made a non-committal, but decidedly disgruntled noise and Belle huffed a laugh. “Please don’t turn into a grumpy old man,” she said. “It doesn’t suit you.”

“Sweetheart, I already _am_ a grumpy old man.” But he said it with a smile and pressed her arm to his side.

*******

The fair was still closed when they reached it, but Belle recognised the tall figure of her son as soon as he came into view. He stood next to a brunette near his own age – Lily, presumably. Each of them was holding a beer bottle. Lily was talking and when she finished, Gideon gave a loud, surprised bellow of a laugh and Belle smiled. No matter what Granny – or Rumple for that matter – thought, anyone who could get a genuine laugh out of the boy immediately constituted excellent company.

“They seem to be having a good time,” Rumple said.

He probably tried to sound churlish, but a quick glance told Belle that his thoughts were likely following a similar path to hers. “At least you can sleep easier now that you know they’re not together,” she teased.

They both stopped and Rumple regarded her sceptically. “Why do I know that?”

Belle nodded towards the two young people. “Look at them,” she said. “They’re relaxed. Joking with each other.”

As if to make Belle’s point for her, Lily chose that moment to snatch Gideon’s bottle and take a long gulp before he snatched it back with a pseudo-indignant shout.

Rumple still didn’t seem convinced. “We used to joke,” he said.

Belle laughed and when she saw his confusion, she laughed a bit more. “Rumple, we were _never_ that comfortable around each other. Not back then, I mean.”

“Yes, but there were… circumstances.” He straightened his cuffs, not looking at her directly.

“That wasn’t the problem. Of course I was scared of you at first.” And sometimes since then, but that was another conversation. Several conversations, really. “But even after that we were never that relaxed with each other.” She didn’t add 'Because I wanted to climb you like a tree,’ because that, too, was another conversation entirely, if a much more pleasant one.

Somehow she got the impression that Rumple could still follow her thoughts. He cleared his throat. “Alright. There may have been a certain amount of… tension.”

Belle flashed him a tiny, playful smile and reached for his hand again. “Now,” she said, “let’s–”

A sudden change in Rumple’s posture made her turn around. Lily still stood in the same spot as before. She had obviously spotted them and was looking at them with an air of mild disinterest. Gideon, however, seemed less calm. He was stalking towards them, thunder on his face.

“What,” he demanded once he’d gotten close enough to be heard, “are you doing here?” 


	3. Chapter 3

Rumple schooled his expression into something neutral as Gideon stopped in front of them, hands clenching and unclenching in a nervous gesture. “We were looking for you,” he said without preamble.

Gideon hissed a breath through gritted teeth. “Why?” Before either of them could reply, he continued. “Because I didn’t ask for your help!”

“We didn’t plan to help with anything.” Rumple pulled the pouch from his suit. “We just wanted to bring you this.”

At the sight of the little package, Gideon went white as bone. “Where did you get that?” he asked.

“You left it at home,” Belle said gently. “We thought you’d need it.”

“And that’s why you followed me around town?” Gideon asked. He was still staring at the wrapped bundle in Rumple’s hand. “How much do you know?”

This was getting out of hand, and fast. Rumple didn’t want to guess what Gideon was thinking at that moment, but he knew it couldn’t be good. “We thought that if you had reached a stage in courtship where expensive gifts played a role,” he said, “you wouldn’t want to mess it up.”

“I never said I was courting,” Gideon said.

Rumple raised his eyebrows at the boy. “Then I assume you wanted to give this,” he indicated the package, “to your charming friend over there?”

Rumple knew he’d made a mistake even before Belle hissed a warning at him. Gideon’s face turned from a stark white to an angry red within seconds and he snatched the package from Rumple’s fingers. “This,” he snapped, “is why I didn’t want– This is exactly what I knew would happen.” He stepped back from them, lips thin and white with anger.

“Gideon,” Belle said gently, “we just wanted to help with one little thing. I think I know what this is about. Love is important, but if–”

“But you _don’t_ know what this is about,” he shouted. “You think you have it all figured out and maybe that’s easy when you know you’re True Love, but sometimes–”

“True Love doesn’t mean everything else is easy,” Rumple said through gritted teeth.

“But at least you _know_ ,” Gideon snapped. “This is exactly why I didn’t want him to meet you. Because you would just try–” He broke off, visibly horrified and clearly thinking he’d said too much.

Belle was the first to recover from the shouting match. “So he already asked to meet us?” She seemed pleasantly surprised. “That’s a good sign.”

Rumple realised what she was doing a second later. Of course they’d assumed that Gideon was seriously courting – or rather 'dating’ – someone, but saying so out loud had unsettled their son. Instead of drawing attention to his uncertainty, she concentrated on something good about the object of his affection. He was suddenly very glad not to have taken point in this conversation.

It seemed to be working. Gideon’s shoulders dropped, clearly more relaxed than before. “Last time we met. He asked, but I…” He shook his head as if to dislodge an unpleasant thought. “I didn’t know how you’d react. We haven’t known each other for that long and I thought you… wouldn’t approve.”

The words 'would be angry that I went behind your back’ hung so clearly in the air that Rumple could all but hear them. The fact that Gideon thought he needed to hide this part of his life from them wasn’t half as bad as the fact that he thought they’d punish him for doing it. Rumple forced his fist to unclench. He really hadn’t killed Fiona nearly hard enough.

“You seem to have things well in hand,” he said, nodding to the would-be gift now in Gideon’s hand and tried to sound as casually supportive as Belle had. He probably only succeeded in sounding uncomfortable. “We’ll leave you to it.”

At that moment, the gate to the fair swung open to indicate opening time and the first visitors filed in slowly. Gideon watched them with a thoughtful expression. After a moment, he said, “We were going to meet at the fair.”

The statement hang in the air. Rumple knew better than to interrupt.

“I thought…” Gideon took a deep breath. “Would you like to come with me and meet him?”

Rumple suppressed a smile and let Belle answer for them both. “We’d love to!”

That didn’t exactly drive the obvious worry from Gideon’s face, but he still managed a tiny smile and motioned for them to follow as he walked towards the fair.

“I feel a little sorry for him,” Belle mused.

Rumple frowned in confusion. “Gideon? Why?”

“No, his mystery friend.” She shook her head. “Nobody likes getting their boyfriend’s parents dropped on them without a warning.” 

*******

The Harbour Fair was a relatively small affair – a few booths, a single fairground ride and lots of Storybrooke citizens enjoying an evening of quiet. Rumple wasn’t sure if the place really was overrun by young couples or if he only noticed them more. He glanced at Belle.

“Quite busy, isn’t it?” she said. Did she sound wistful?

“A side effect of living in a town where either nothing happens at all or everything happens all at once,” Rumple mused. “Most of them are probably enjoying the feeling of something new without the gates of hell opening on their doorstep.” He slipped one hand into hers and felt her squeeze it gently.

Gideon led them to one of the docks that weren’t supporting some booth or other. In the festive air, it looked almost eerily quiet. It most definitely looked deserted.

“This is where he said he’ll be,” Gideon said by way of explanation. “They must have been held up.” He glanced around, probably hoping not to be obvious about it.

Rumple noted that he wasn’t watching at the fair, but rather the sea. Who was this 'mystery friend’ then? A merman? And who were 'they’? He was about to pose those same questions to Belle when a deep, resonating horn sounded under the surface.

The dock trembled and – contrary to everything common sense said about the water depth next to a dock – a maelstrom formed right next to the pier. Rumple’s first instinct was alarm, but a look at Gideon told him that this was something he had expected to happen.

“Isn’t that Nemo’s ship?” Belle had to shout to be heard over the roaring water.

Rumple saw no reason to strain his vocal chords as well, so he simply nodded. By now, the Nautilus had emerged as far from the water as it was possible for the heavy vessel and Gideon was all but bouncing with anticipation. The look was unfamiliar on the young man and under any other circumstance, Rumple would have been happy to see it. Now, he was just confused. “You mean he’s on that?” he asked. And then it dawned on him. “Oh no.” Him? Really?

As if summoned by Rumple’s dismay, Liam Jones, the younger appeared at the submarine’s hatch. Without waiting for one of the other sailors to even extend a ramp, he jumped over to the dock, grabbing Gideon’s outstretched hand as support. The manoeuvre looked well-practised. Familiar, even.

Supportive, he reminded himself. He was here to be supportive. But Jones? Really?

“You look like you bit into something awful,” Belle whispered.

“Seems appropriate,” Rumple muttered darkly. He still tried to compose his features into something if not pleasant, then at least non-threatening.

Gideon meanwhile had been wrapped in an enthusiastic embrace with Jones that Rumple decided to immediately forget for his own peace of mind. The phrase 'they grow up too fast’ felt even more painfully appropriate when the growing up had happened in less than half a year.

The two men parted suddenly and Jones turned towards Belle and Rumple, frowning. “Gideon,” he said slowly, “are these–”

“My parents,” Gideon finished. “Mother, father. This is Liam.” His expression had closed again, guard back up.

“We’re very glad to meet you,” Belle said. Apparently she had given up on Rumple contributing to the conversation in a meaningful manner.

“So am I,” Jones replied in a tone that suggested something rather different. “Gideon has told me about you.”

“Not that much,” Gideon muttered, still loud enough for Rumple to hear.

Rumple _didn’t_ say that Gideon hadn’t mentioned a word about Liam until backed into a corner on the topic. There were a lot of things Rumple wasn’t saying. From the corner of his eye, he saw Belle look at him thoughtfully.

“Gideon, will you walk with me for a bit?” she asked, still looking at Rumple. “I wanted to talk about something. Alone.”

“Of course,” Gideon said. Rumple didn’t miss the panicked look that Jones threw in his son’s direction.

“Behave,” Belle whispered, before taking her son’s arm and walking away. 

*******

As soon as Gideon and Belle had disappeared from view, Jones’s manner changed. The young man looked straight at Rumple, shoulders squared and chin lifted. “So,” he said. “Is this the shovel talk?”

Rumple blinked. “The what?” he asked after a moment.

“The shovel talk,” Jones repeated, sounding utterly unconcerned. “You know. The whole 'If you hurt him, remember that I have a shovel and nobody will ever find your body’-thing. It’s kind of traditional.”

The words 'I wouldn’t need a shovel to hide what’s left of you’ were on the tip of his tongue, but Rumple swallowed them just in time. Instead he asked, “Do we need to have that talk?”

Jones looked over his shoulder. The other seamen were departing the Nautilus, though they had enough sense to do it on the neighbouring dock. “In this place?” he asked. “I’d weigh me down and drop me in the harbour. Less work.”

“I see if I ever need to dispose of a body, I’ll only have to ask you.” Rumple couldn’t stop the acrid tinge in his voice. Looking at Liam and trying _not_ to see his older brother was taking its toll on his patience.

“Somehow I get the feeling that you don’t like me very much.”

“I was just wondering why you bother with this place,” said Rumple. “I mean, it’s not for the nightlife. It’s certainly not for the exotic sights.”

That seemed to puzzle Jones. “I don’t really decide where the ship surfaces,” he said.

“Oh, please,” Rumple sneered, “you’re the captain’s son in all but name. You could go ashore anywhere you wanted. Somewhere warm, for instance.”

“And why would I want to do that?” Jones’s voice was turning steadily cooler, his faked confidence becoming real anger.

“Well, I can’t help but wonder why you should decide to spend your precious time ashore in this place and with Gideon of all people.” The words stung even as Rumple said them, but he pressed on. “I know the boy is odd. Different. I can’t help but think that the novelty factor will wear off quickly and we all know what naval life is like. How long until some pretty thing in a far-off harbour turns your head? How long before you move on to someone else. Someone less demanding or more adventurous or–”

“Shut. Up.” Liam’s face had turned steadily more and more red during Rumple’s speech until he looked like an overripe tomato, but his voice was still level. Not calm, but not loud, either. Rumple hadn’t expected that much self-control from the boy.

“Just shut up. You can lay into me all day, if you like. I probably deserve some of that. But you don’t talk about Gideon like that. Your son is–” Liam faltered, a strangely puzzled expression flickering across his features before he continued. “He’s one of the good ones. After everything that’s happened to him, he’s still– He’s kind. He cares for others. He’s so much better than he thinks and if this is how you talk to him–” Liam frowned, pausing mid-sentence. “Wait.” He scanned Rumple’s face. “This is a test?”

“Most things are.” Rumple tried very hard not to look too smug. Or too relieved.

“But this was a test,” Liam repeated, more confident this time. “You wanted to see which way I’d jump when you put the pressure on.”

Rumple raised an eyebrow and kept silent and Liam seemed to take that as confirmation. “So. Did I pass?”

“You’ll have to find out.” Rumple nodded in the direction that Gideon and Belle had gone off in. Voices overlaying each other in easy conversation signalled their return.

Liam looked up and Rumple couldn’t help but notice the flicker of a genuine smile on the young man’s face when he saw Gideon. He huffed a resigned breath, just before his eye caught Belle’s and he felt a smile of his own tug at the corners of his mouth.


	4. Chapter 4

“Is it such a good idea to leave them?” Gideon asked.

Belle tried not to look over her shoulder while they were walking away from the two men at the pier. Obviously, Rumple needed to talk to Liam alone. She just had to trust him to know what he was doing. “Rumple won’t do anything to him,” she said. At least of that, she was sure. Almost. “And the sooner they get this over with, the better.” She would also have liked a private talk with Liam, but that could wait. Presumably, they would be seeing more of the young man in the future.

Determined to steer the conversation to more pleasant topics, Belle asked, “How did you two meet?”

“Bumped into each other.” Gideon’s face wore the slightly dazed look of pleasant reminiscence. Belle wasn’t sure if he was even seeing her. “I wanted to try one of those big ice cream things where the scoops are almost as large as your head.”

Belle tried to put visuals to the description. “A sundae?” she asked.

“Yes, that. And I was… staring at it a little, I think. I didn’t see Liam and then there was ice cream all over the floor and both of us, so I cleaned it up and he bought both of us a new one. Things developed from there.” Gideon rubbed at his arms. “It sounds strange when I just say it like that. So normal.”

Belle thought it was wonderful. “I think we can all use more 'normal’ in our lives.”

“True.”

They walked in silence for a few heartbeats. Belle wanted desperately to ask more questions, find out everything she could about Liam. Did he make Gideon laugh? Did Gideon feel safe with him? Did he look forward to spending time together, did he think that this would last? But she’d had enough meddling parents in her own love life to know that Gideon needed to decide for himself how much he wanted to share. She’d shown interest. Everything else had to come from him.

Gideon abruptly stopped walking. “It’s a locket,” he said. “The gift. I was going to give it to him before he had to leave again.”

Belle waited and suddenly remembered their conversation from the day before. ’ _How did you know?’_

Gideon seemed to be waiting for her to say something. So she asked the obvious question. “What’s in it?”

“Just a picture of us.” Gideon’s hand was balled in his pocket, presumably around the would-be gift. “We can talk through the sea-shells, but travel between worlds is still difficult. Sometimes we don’t see each other for weeks.”

“You care about him,” Belle said.

“He’s… Liam is the first good thing I ever found for myself.” He sounded almost pleading. Begging her to understand.

And Belle did. Of course he’d found his family, but the circumstances had been dictated by someone other than him and by the terrible conflict they’d been fighting at the time. Liam was separate from all that, someone Gideon had truly met on his own terms. Maybe that more than anything else had been the reason Gideon had kept silent about him for so long.

Belle ached to hug him, then, but the conversation hadn’t reached that point, yet. “You looked happy together,” she offered.

“I think I am.” He flashed her a lopsided smile heavy with self-consciousness, but the light in his eyes was hard to mistake.

“But?”

“I don’t know if it will be enough.”

_'How did you know?’_ Belle decided to push a little. “What does he think?”

“He called me a sap and–” To Belle’s deep amusement, Gideon blushed. “I think he’s happier, too.”

Belle reached up to cup his face with her hand. “Then I’d say it’s more than enough for now.”

Gideon leaned into the touch for a moment, then pulled her into a tight hug. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“Any time,” she replied and hugged him back.

*******

Once they were within shouting distance, Belle stopped walking to let Gideon close the distance to his boyfriend by himself. After a moment, Rumple decided to follow her example and give the two men some space for a proper reunion. He saw Gideon wrap his arms around Liam from the corner of his eye and only heard a half-laughed “warn me next time!” behind him, before he came to a halt next to Belle.

“All done?” she asked.

“For now.” Rumple tried to make it sound optimistic rather than sinister. From the amused half-grin on Belle’s face, he didn’t succeed entirely.

“Walk with me?” she asked, reaching for him with one hand.

He took it. “Of course.”

Once they were well away from both the waterline and most of the fair, Belle said, “I wonder if we should have waited. Let him come to us on his own.”

“You mean act like we didn’t know and let him worry until then?” Rumple asked.

“Maybe not.” They slowed their walk until they came to a stop. “So how did we do?” Belle asked.

Rumple looked at her in surprise. “You’re asking _me_?”

“You do have more experience with this,” Belle said. Her tone teased, but her eyes were worried, the way she always was when they brushed the topic of Baelfire.

“I manipulated my son’s ex-girlfriend into breaking a Dark Curse under great risk to herself and my grandson and then hired her as a bounty hunter to track down Bae when he wanted nothing to do with me,” Rumple deadpanned. “That doesn’t set the bar very high.” Almost to his surprise, he found that he didn’t mind joking about the topic. The familiar pang of sadness that came with thinking about Bae was still there, but this was a good memory, in many ways. He should tell Gideon about it sometime.

Belle seemed to catch his mood. “It went well, then?” she asked, eyes now twinkling with amusement.

“I was… pleasantly surprised,” Rumple admitted. “Jones– Liam isn’t what I expected. I think they could be good for each other.”

Belle nodded. If in agreement or to herself, Rumple wasn’t sure. “They’ll be alright.”

They stood in silence for a moment, before Belle spoke again. “Now that we have some time to ourselves…” She left the sentence hanging in the air like an invitation.

Rumple flashed her a smile. “Yes? Did you have anything in mind?”

“I heard there is a fair in town,” Belle said. “We could take a look at it.”

“What, and horrify all the young couples?” he teased.

“They’ll just have to manage.” Belle smirked. “And in any case, I was thinking of turning in early today.”

“In that case…” Rumple sketched a tiny bow. “Would you like to accompany me to the fair?”

Belle rose slightly to her toes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “I thought you’d never ask.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Finding Gideon's True Love; Storybrooke


End file.
